It's the Final Countdown !

Only 8 days now until my official swim window opens. There's some possibility I may swim earlier, but am staying focused on that initial date so that I can get my motivation going.

From 14th to 22nd of September I'll be on Standby waiting for a call that will give me c. 24hrs notice that my crew and I are going. We will then load up the car with water, Maxim sports drink, food, clothes, torches etc etc etc (there is a lot of stuff required !) and then head down to a B&B in Dover to grab some sleep. We'll probably be starting early the following morning (2 or 3 a.m. perhaps) so that we can do the bulk of the swim in the light.

Shakespeare Beach (Dover Harbour in background) - credit: f0rbe5/flikr

Once we get down to the boat we'll load up and then head out of the harbour and west to either Shakespeare Beach or Samphire Ho. The pilot will then stop, I'll jump in (freshly greased with a flashing light on my head for safety) and swim to the shore.

In a bright spotlight I'll stand on the beach, raise my arm in the air and, when the horn on the boat goes (telling me the clock is starting), I will dive into the Channel and begin my journey to France. The next time I touch land will be the other side of the English Channel !

Feeding will be on the hour for the first 3 hrs and then every 30 minutes from then on. Feeds will be as quick as possible (I need to remember that I am feeding rather than resting !) and I'll be drinking good quantities of very hot Maxim sports drink. Occasionally I'll get half a banana, a cup of peaches, small squares of peanut butter sandwiches etc. but mainly I'll be fuelled by my desire to achieve this dream and raise this great sum for Parkinsons UK and the Camphill Family.

I'm not certain how long it will take me to get to France but it will almost certainly be between 16 and 20 hours. If I'm unlucky with the tides and/or the weather then it may take more time than that. This won't be a problem, I just need to make sure I pack enough Maxim to keep me going !

What I can visualise very clearly though is the moment my hand goes over my head to stroke forward and touches France when I am in a few feet of water. At that point I'll stand up (probably fall over) and then wade onto the beach. Once my feet are clear of the water I need to raise my hands again, and then, when the boat's horn sounds again, I'll have finished my channel swim !

In the meantime, I'll keep checking the weather forecast. Much of this forecast is driven by a weather buoy anchored in the Eastern end of the Channel. You can look at the Sandettie buoy directly at http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/coast/buoy/index.shtml?co_sandettiebuoy#results if you're interested. Alternatively look at the long term weather forecast on http://www.weather-forecast.com/locations/Dover/forecasts/latest.

Current forecast is for a dropping wind towards the beginning of next week and no real rain...let's hope it doesn't get any worse ! Cross your fingers, make a wish, say a prayer because we need no wind, flat seas and sunshine in an ideal world....that said, I'm not sure we live (or swim) in one of those.

Until next time...